Category: books

March 23, 2015

Visiting The Sins by Melanie Denman #review

Visiting The Sins is a darkly funny story about mothers and daughters, ambition, redemption and the acts we commit in the name of family.

About Visiting the Sins

Visiting the Sins is set deep in the Bible Country of Texas and follows three generations of women in the Wheeler family. A family of women with lofty social aspirations but whom always seem dissatisfied. Pokey is the quirky matriarch, Rebanelle the former beauty queen and Curtis Jean the gospel singer. Their aspirations are matched only by their poor taste in men and their capacity for holding grudges. A legacy of feuding and scandals threatens to bring down all they have sacrificed to build.

My Thoughts

An interesting story told from the viewpoints of the three women and those closest to them. They are a family that loves each other deeply but also are not afraid to speak their mind nor hold a grudge. With the story being told from each of the women’s own thoughts and feelings you are given a different angle of each situation. While Pokey feels Rebanelle is cold and calculating, Rebanelle feels hurt and that she must bear the greatest burden of the family. The three women constantly perceive each situation differently and of course each one is always the most correct individual. This did get confusing at first until I became quite clear with the names of all the characters but it really gave a great picture of the situations each one endured.

While dark at times, Visiting the Sins is a true portrayal of depression, family love and perseverance against the toughest odds. The Wheeler family pulled themselves out of poverty to become high standing members of their community and did it in a way that only the Wheeler family could achieve. The comedy relief from Pokey balances the novel out perfectly.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Melanie is a native Texas and a graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University. An eighth generation Texan and a former banker and cattle rancher, she currently lives in San Francisco working on her second novel.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 20, 2015

March Break Fun with Mommy and Me Bake #DKCanada

Mommy and Me Bake #DKCanada March Boutique

What better way to spend the March Break (or any time really) than baking with your child! DK Canada introduces Mommy and Me Bake, a book full of fun recipes and ingredients for your child and you to make together.

About Mommy and Me Bake

Mommy and Me Bake introduces children to the fun and exciting world of baking. This book is full of easy to read and follow classic recipes to help children bake along with their parents.

My Thoughts

Talk about the perfect first recipe book for children of all ages! Mommy and Me Bake contains large, bright photos that are perfect for children. The steps are easy to follow (even for the baking impaired adult!) and are in large, bold font.

The recipes take on new names that will entice your children: Crunchy Cookie Cutouts, Fruit Boats and Cookie Blossoms. The names got our children excited to try out the recipes especially with the animated introduction picture for each recipe.

We had an incredible time baking with these recipes. Mommy and Me Bake makes it easy to follow, understand and explains the science behind baking making it a fun experience for all. The hard cover and thick pages make it easy to keep in the kitchen while baking without ruining the book.

What is your favourite recipe to bake?

Make sure to check out the March Break Boutique over at DK Canada!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

February 5, 2014

The Smitten Book Club: Love and Friendship #Review

In the collaborative novel, The Smitten Book Club, authors and best friends Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter and Diann Hunt intertwine the Gentlewoman’s Guide into the personal life of each Smitten town book club member.

Do you love a story based on friendship and the power of its healing? Then The Smitten Book Club is the perfect read just for you!

Molly, Lia, Heather and Abby are the main characters in the Smitten Book Club. They organize the book club in the town of Smitten as well as being the best of friends who would do anything for each other. When Heather finds the Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship she can not resist bringing the book home with her. Not only did the title of the book call out to her but the book was written by a Smitten native, Pearl Chambers (a relative of Molly’s husband).

Heather and her fellow book club members pass the book along and each interprets the book in a fashion that is true to their personality. The members each meet with romance and the Guide proves to be both helpful and completely irrelevant at the exact same time. Not only does the Guide offer advice on love it also contains a town mystery to a secret gold mine! This secret could help Molly financially and each one of the girls is determined to help solve this mystery.

I love that this book was written by four best friends. Reading through the novel you can sense this friendship and I felt like I part of the friendship of the Smitten Book Club. The power of friendships is so important to our personal well being and an essential part when we are hurting – our friends know the perfect words and actions to make so much of that hurt go away. I loved how each character’s story was so intertwined that you did not feel like each story stopped but that it was a continuation from the previous story. It allowed a greater insight into each character’s personality and inner feelings. The Smitten Book Club was the perfect book to cuddle up with and laugh and cry along with. It is a fantastic novel to share with your own girlfriends, your sister and mother. It is a novel that I have recommended to all my coworkers as well.

Rating: 5/5

Want to find out more about this book and read other reviews? Check out the Litfuse Blog tour here. If you would like to purchase a copy you can do so here.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed are my own.

December 18, 2013

A Gift for Sophie Review & Giveaway US/CAN

Story time is a very special time in our house. It is the time of day where we can relax in bed, cuddle up with a blanket and catch up on some quality time with a good book. We love stories that carry a strong meaning for our children, stories they can cherish and learn from.

A Gift for Sophie written by Gilles Vigneault follows the life of Sophie a seven year old girl and her friendships with Old Man Tom and Emilio. We watch as Sophie grows and learns about loss and friendship. A Gift for Sophie is a powerful reminder of the connections we have with our loved ones and help children understand that we are always there for them whether in spirit or presence.

This beautifully written story also comes with a CD that contains both a narration of the story and nine heart warming songs that your whole family will love. The CD really helps bring the story to life. If you are more of a digital person and love reading stories on an app with your children you can download it on the iTunes store for only $7.99. These enhanced e-books offer a complete narration of the story with animation and two recorded songs.

My favourite features of A Gift for Sophie:

– An incredibly powerful and poetic story with an important message for our children. Makes the perfect bedtime story!
-The addition of the CD with a narration and songs (as well as the lyrics to sing along with!).
-An enhanced e-book for those who prefer to download e-books.
-Story is the perfect length – enough to create an interesting story line and to keep a child’s attention.
-The illustrations are beautiful! The illustrations are by Stéphane Jorisch (also a four time winner of the Governor General’s Literacy Award.
-The book is completely Canadian – writer by a Canadian author (Gilles Vigneault), illustrated by a Canadian illustrator (Stéphane Jorisch) and published by a great Canadian publisher – Secret Mountain!

If you are not familiar with the Secret Mountain, they are a Canadian publisher based out of Montreal. They are renowned internationally as a publisher of children’s books and music. They have a large volume of work that you can browse through on their website.

The Secret Mountain is offering one reader a chance to win their own copy of A Gift for Sophie! This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada so feel free to share with all your fellow parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

GOOD LUCK!

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the purpose to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

November 26, 2013

Datevitation: Keeping Relationships Fun! #Review #Giveaway

Date nights? Some days I feel like what is that???

It is so hard with children to keep date ideas fun and exciting. Date nights become non existent at times and we both hate that. It is so important for us to keep our relationship strong, not only for ourselves but also for our children. Coming up with fun and new date ideas can be so hard! I like to be creative with my husband and surprise him with something new and different.

Have you ever made homemade date night coupons?

Several times I have made my own “coupons” for date ideas to give to my husband on special occasions. They can be fun, exciting, different or romantic but any way you look at it, the date coupons add that extra element of excitement to date night!

Datevitation is the first online platform to create your very own personalized love coupon book. No more pre-packaged, generic love coupon books. Datevitation allows you to fully customize the dates, text and design. You can choose from over 500 date ideas!! There are so many date night ideas ranging from a walk, picnic, restaurant to skydiving – I had so much fun choosing the date options for our special book.

One of the neatest parts of this site is that you can even insert your own faces into the coupon book. I had so much fun at this part – you add in the face of your recipient (in this case my husband) and choose their hair style and colour. There was definitely a great variety of hair styles to play around! This was the perfect way to personalize our love coupon book just for us and add a little more excitement to date night.

The date ideas are not just limited to couples though. As many parents have experienced (and we found out quickly with the birth of our second son) it is so important to schedule regular “date” nights with your children for quality one on one time. They don’t have to be expensive date ideas but as simple as baking together or going to play at the park together. These moments are so important in all the chaos that is life – a great way to catch up on all the things that are going on in your child’s life.

Datevitation was created by the husband-wife team of Alex and Olga Karpman. They have a great blog where you can get to know more about them, go through great date ideas and ideas to keep romancing blooming. I loved their post on how to create a gourmet meal for your significant other when you can not cook, check it out here.

What I loved about Datevitation:

the website itself was clear to read, everything visible
account set up was simple and quick
creating the love coupons was quick and painless – it was easy for me to use and no mistakes made!
with over 500+ date ideas you can’t go wrong!
adds that extra element of fun and excitement into a relationship
they make the perfect personalized gift, it gives your gift that special touch

Datevitation is not only offering a fabulous giveaway for you but they are also offering all my readers a great discount on their coupon books. Right now use the code: WORKINGMOMMY to receive $10 off your order and free shipping. These make perfect gifts for Christmas so make sure to get that order in before December 13th, 2013 to ensure delivery – I can not wait to see my husband’s face when he opens his!

Enter now to win your own love coupon book! This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, 18 years of age and older.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received the product mentioned above for the purpose to review. All opinions expressed are my own.